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Monday, March 31, 2014

Enemy (showing in Cleveland exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre)

[ENEMY is now showing in Cleveland exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]

Review by Joseph Anthony

Last fall director Denis Villeneuve presented audiences with
PRISONERS, a psychological thriller about missing children that divided its audience. Now Villeneuve gives us ENEMY, a film based on
the novel THE DOUBLE by Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramego, and if there wasn’t a
consensus on PRISONERS, this film will likely create an even larger divide
among moviegoers. Just as enigmatic as PRISONER and twice as cerebral, both
films keep you guessing, but in the case of ENEMY the answers don’t come easy. In fact you could argue that they don’t come at all.

The movie begins with an epigraph taken from Saramego’s
novel, “Chaos is order yet undeciphered.” This will serve as our
mission statement over the next ninety minutes. Take it to heart and prepare as
best you can. To watch this film literally is a mistake. You’ve been warned:
deciphering must take place to work out the impending chaos.

ENEMY stars Jake Gyllenhaal (ZODIAC, DONNIE DARKO), who also
appeared in PRISONERS. However, unlike PRISONERS, which also starred Hugh
Jackman, Paul Dano, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo and Terrence Howard, ENEMY lacks
that sort of star power. Gyllenhaal plays Adam Bell, a sluggish, reluctant
history professor. Adam is a man of routine. He lectures on totalitarian government and the
tradition of history repeating itself. Despite powerful historical messages,
which you can try to read into however you’d like, his classes seem uninspired
and his home life consists of a near empty apartment and his girlfriend Mary,
played by Melanie Laurent (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, NOW YOU SEE ME). Like the rest
of Adam’s life, it’s hard to tell if he is passionate about Mary of if she is
simply part of his routine.

Adam's curiosity is piqued when – after renting a light-hearted movie
recommended by his colleague – Adam spots an extra in the film who looks
exactly like himself: his indisputable doppelganger. He sets out to find the lookalike.

The man is aspiring actor Anthony Claire (also played by
Gyllenhaal). In contrast to Adam, Anthony is a self-assured go-getter (he drives a
motorcycle and dresses to impress). But beyond their emotional makeup and
significant other, everything about Adam and Anthony is the same – features,
voice and scars. What might appear to be a simple doppelganger movie is
anything but.

Adam sets out to meet Anthony and the repercussions will
turn Adam’s repetitive life upside down. Not only does Anthony share Adam’s
interest in finding out the truth, but so does his pregnant wife, Helen (Sarah
Gordon). The mutual pursuit is tense and messy.

At times ENEMY plays out like a twisted David Lynch tale,
other times it has the dread of a Stanley Kubrick film (Danny Bensi &
Saunder Jurriaans' score doesn’t hurt). The setting – Toronto – is a
dreary landscape of bleak and muted colors. The tone is heavy and never lets
up.

From the moment the film begins with a stripper and a soon
to be stepped on tarantula (and few films have made me question the meaning of
an insect like this one), you can be assured going forward that nothing about
ENEMY will be simple. Strangely, it feels okay to be confused. The film
wouldn’t work if you weren’t guessing and theorizing. That is to say,
Villeneuve and screenwriter Javier Gullon expect you to do some thinking and to
pay attention.

Villeneuve and Gullon present a cold and distant film. They
do a masterful job of getting you close enough to the central characters to
care, but not so familiar that the pieces fit. It will either intrigue you or
won’t. You may eagerly try to track down clues and symbolism or you might find
your head in your hand waiting for the end to come. All things considered, it
worked for me. In fact, I haven’t been able to shake the film off since I saw
it.

ENEMY doesn’t tell what direction you or the film is headed,
though Villeneuve has openly stated that the movie can be deciphered. When it
comes to an end, with a final shot that will make you squirm in your seat,
you’re ultimately left with the deiding what the films message is, what the
chaos means. Not everyone will agree and that’s half the fun. 3 stars out 4.